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The following was submitted by Robin Roberts and aired on Oct. 1, 2026:
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TRANSCRIPT (written by Robin Roberts):
I want to to urge everyone to VOTE – we have two important elections coming up: the municipal election on Tuesday October 6, and the general election on Tuesday November 3. I especially encourage everyone to take advantage of early voting, just in case something comes up on election day that might keep you from exercising your right as a citizen.
I liked the question at asked at the recent Assembly candidate forum about the contract negotiations between the borough and city employees now going to arbitration. I agree with those who said that we have to take care of our valued borough employees – our friends and neighbors – who keep things running smoothly. But paying our borough employees requires money, and that means boosting, not cutting or limiting, tax revenue. Many of the same candidates who want to increase pay for borough employees are the same people who said they want to exempt seniors from paying sales tax, and they don’t want to raise the sales tax cap – but you can’t have it both ways!
I want to address two of the propositions on the upcoming municipal ballot – Proposition 2: to increase the sales tax cap from $1200 to $5000, and Proposition 3: to exempt all seniors 70 and over from paying sales tax.
Proposition 2 was supported by the Borough Assembly because our current sales tax cap is outdated, it’s the lowest in all of Southeast, and it hampers the borough’s ability to provide services and to pay its excellent employees.
No one wants to pay taxes, but without revenue, the borough can’t function. The proposed tax cap change would increase the maximum amount of sales tax from a paltry $72 to $300. Think about how many big yachts come to Petersburg to fuel up since the tax cap is so low. How much sales tax revenue is our borough losing on fishing lodge and other tourist packages? People from outside are paying a lot to come and enjoy our natural resources, using our borough services, and contributing very little towards them. For those of us who live here year-round, how often are we making large purchases – over $1200 – where the increased sales tax cap would even matter? And even when we do, the maximum tax that we would pay is $300 if we spend $5000 or more. It’s reasonable, and still less than most other Southeast communities.
Proposition 3 is a citizen initiative looking to automatically exempt anyone 70 or over from paying sales tax. Petersburg already has a sales tax exemption for those 65 and over based on financial need. Seniors already get breaks in other ways: for people who own their own home, there is a property tax exemption for those 65 and over on the first $150,000 of the assessed value – which, by the way, is a state mandate, but not funded by the state! The borough has to absorb the cost of this state mandate – a loss of revenue for the borough. Let’s not forget that seniors also get a break on vehicle registration fees in Alaska once they turn 65. Seniors already get the benefit of cost breaks in this state, and they don’t need more when it will negatively impact our borough by an estimated $350,000.
Need, not age, should determine who should get a sales tax break in Petersburg. A good number of our residents are 70 or over, and if they aren’t paying their fair share of sales tax, then the burden falls on our young working families – the economic engine of our community. Families are struggling with salaries that can’t keep up with inflation, the price of fuel and groceries, and child care – and we’re asking them to bear the brunt of the costs to run our borough?
The borough needs revenue to provide the services we need and want – to keep the lights on and to keep us safe, to provide clean water and respond to emergencies when needed, and a myriad of other examples, large and small. We all need to step up and support generating the revenue the borough needs to function well and to keep good employees, especially when a lot of that revenue can be earned from tourist dollars.
Robin Roberts
